Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Interview with TV writer Liz Tigelaar, creator of "Life Unexpected" - Part 7: First-Time Showrunner

Part 1 - Breaking in as an assistant
Part 2 - First Staff Writer Job on "American Dreams"
Part 3 - How Do I Get an Agent?
Part 4 - Selling a Pilot
Part 5 - Personal Themes in Writing
Part 6 - Genesis of "Life Unexpected"

Though Liz Tigelaar had worked in television for many years, it wasn't until 2010's "Life Unexpected" that she had worked her way up to the coveted position of showrunner.  For those who don't know, a showrunner is the person setting the creative direction for the series.  They're the final say (except for the network), they hire the writers and directors and it's their vision that everyone works to implement.  Usually (but not always) this person is the creator of the show as well.

In this segment, we touch on the development of the long-term arcs in the first season and some of the many things that Liz was faced with during her first year as show-runner.  You could probably spend an hour just talking about this element of television production, but Liz's answer here presents an overview of the things she and her writing staff developed during that season.



Part 8 - Developing the second year of LUX
Part 9 - Dealing with network notes
Part 10 - Controversial LUX storylines
Part 11 - LUX lives on
Part 12 - Network overall deal, working on Once Upon a Time and Revenge
Part 13 - The Bitter Questions

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